Rick was a caring mentor to me. He and Priscilla were like family. I met him when his daughters became my best friends forever during and since college. We enjoyed many a family visit, trip, dinner, tennis game, foundation meeting, debate. Rick was ever thoughtful, curious, fun, supportive and just plain one-of-a-kind.  My heart goes out to Priscilla and family. His absence is sorely felt.

I was deeply saddened by the news of Rick’s death.  A group of his former students recently held a “Zoom” memorial to Rick in which we gathered together and told our stories.  I first “met” Rick when I read an op-ed he published in the New York Times back in 1976.  Rick wrote about teaching his class on the history of Nazi Germany, and how dismayed he was that his students seemed to think that Germans of that time had to make the choices they did.  The students said that if they were in the same position, they would probably have gone along with the Nazi regime.  Rick was appalled at this, and determined to teach the course differently next time, stressing the very real choices which Germans faced, and that would, in many respects, underline the moral dilemmas we often face in modern societies.  Six years later, after I had started graduate study at Harvard,  I met Rick in person and he offered me a job as a teaching assistant in that course.  Over the next several years, Rick was an unfailing supporter of my career, helping me arrange interviews for my dissertation, encouraging me to apply to fellowships, and sharing with me stories of his involvement with German politics as President of the American Council on Germany.  When I left Harvard for Vanderbilt in 1990, I only saw Rick intermittently over the following years, but I was thrilled that I had the opportunity to teach his niece Caroline, and to share stories with her of “Uncle Richard.”  Rick Hunt was an extraordinarily kind, generous, and supportive teacher and mentor to me, and I thank God that I had the privilege of knowing him.

My Uncle R was such a thoughtful gentle man. He kept our divergent family wise with each other, harmonizing us as a family that thrives today as we work together, often bridging big divides in our opinions and approaches.  Thinking so often about others as he communicated, he loved so much in life, its marvels, its beauty and its magic. We will miss him terribly !